Happy Memories
by Alibi Nonsense
Summary: Jamie Bennett, 94, dies in a hospital bed after a long and happy life. This is his funeral; the last speech. This is the Bennetts' goodbye. (Warning!Character Death)


Last light.

Shining, candle-bright and heart-worn

(Like a dead-lover's photo

against a face)

Torn away

Too early.

.

Pace of life, for Jamie,

Was jumping;

Leaping, springing into happy air

Bounding, laughing,

Nostalgia for the present

(The past, done

The future made to wait)

Born of love of life

Love of family

Love of friendship

Love of the lost for whom he was a beacon

We will mourn

Jamie Bennett

.

Self-sworn child-protector

Dream-pretender

Staunch-defender always to the last

We will remember Jamie Bennett.

.

Mender of promises

Patcher of knees

Bender of the truth, occasionally,

(to make sure nobody got punished

for everybody's crime)

At last surrendered

Dawn-break

Last Tuesday night in a hospital bed

Aged 94

A wife of 60 years beside him

Snowing outside

Cold inside

Fitting for a man who died

unwavering

Tenacious in his faith

Not in the Trinity

But in his innocent beliefs.

.

He brought us up

On stories he had made

And memories he had known

In legends young and old

Myths whether good or bad

.

We learnt of

Bunnymund of Easter

Santa Claus

The Sandman

Tooth Fairy

Pitch Black

Of Mother Nature

Man in Moon

But mostly…

.

Mainly of Jack

.

Jack Frost the winter spirit

Who stayed with us in words

more than anything

Through firelight and s'mores on sticks

Through summer walks and rainy days

Through blazing red leaves on maple trees

And birds twittering and singing in them…

.

Through the winter months

In snowballs

And in sledging

And in skating

And in climbing leaf-less trees

And in piggy-back rides

And snow-days

And in skidding on ice-patches

to see who could get the furthest.

.

Jamie called us the Forgotten

Up until he died

Because, to him, we didn't see

We just forgot to see.

To him the stories

he made up

were real.

.

I wish we could have seen

Through him

Our Jamie Bennett.

.

94

Died in bed

4 children

16 grandchildren

28 great grand-children

a wife

a sister

.

He knew us all.

He told us of ourselves

He saw our hearts

He called them 'centres'

Told us to explore

Told us that we should play

That Childhood is for life…

.

He should be here.

and saying this instead of me.

I wish he was.

Our Jamie always knew what should be said

He taught me all the things a brother should.

.

Our Jamie Bennett.

Last light

Ashes lit on fire until his dying day

His dust a magic dust

His passing like a boat

suspended suddenly in ice

A jerk for us

Him, free

Jumping from the boast

Rushing across the planes

White expanses

Glowing like a baby's eyes

Shining from the sun

Or from the winter moon

Whichever one

I think he'd like a moon

And him, his ninety-year-old legs

Left on the boat

Him, eight again

Just running, dancing, whooping

Wind-caught hair

Him flying just as much as running

Laughing

Speeding into the distance

like a sledge down a hill

And the breath of Jack's old friend in his hair

His grin stretched tight in the moonlight

Legs like pinwheels

Cartwheels

Careering head over head over heels over knees over arms

And running

.

And behind him, a figure

White-haired

Blue hoodie with frost patterns

A long, crooked stick, like a shepherd's staff

Tight in palm

.

He is taking our Jamie

He is holding his hand

He is lifting him high into the air

.

Together

Skinning the silver linings of clouds

Dusting the lower ones with frost and making casual snow

.

Together

Shouting into the distance

Sunrise distance

Laughing

Forward, into the distance

Like they were skating

Just like he taught me

Just like he taught us

Just like Jack taught him

on the same lake

With the same pair of those worn and battered skates

With just the same laugh

And the same smile

Just as he loved each one of us the same

.

His own, the snow-days

His, the fun-days

His, the laughter and the memories

His, the wonder

His, the good and better dreams

His too, the nightmares

stifled at their root

Cut

Like a thorny-daggered rose in a garden

Too dead to stay

.

His, the hope and happiness

And his, the children's refuge

His, the innocence

And the kinship

And the love for all the seasons

His…

…us

.

We won't forget you, Jamie Bennett

Father, brother, husband, friend.


End file.
